1962 Springfield 58 cal.

L

Lakota

New member
Got this recently it is a cut down 1862 Springfield .58 cal Musket.
It is missing it's rear sight but I think I found an original replacement for it.
I was told that after the war a lot of them were converted to hunting rifles and shotguns. I have an original 1863 Springfield .58 cal that I love for Deer Hunting. Once I get a rear sight and if it is anywhere near as accurate as the other one it will be my new black powder rifle.

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Lakota - is the barrel bored out or is it still .58 rifled?

Bannerman sold a lot of cut down surplus muskets and pieced together ones as well. Yours looks very nice and like it would be a shooter. I can't tell from your photos - is the length of the barrel chopped?

I had a 1864 (1861 pattern) Watertown that was bored out and the concave tip of the ramrod filled with lead to use as a shot gun. How it escaped being cut up and shortened always baffled me. You've got a nice piece of history there - enjoy and have fun! :)
 
Hey bedbugbilly
That is a good question to be honest with you I don't know weather it is still .58 cal. or if it has been bored out. But I will check that out and get back to you on that.
As far as the barrel being chopped, it was and when I get home tonight I will measure it and let you know how much was cut off.
 
I don't remember what my bored out Watertown measured (I sold it a few years back when I disposed of my collection). The shallow three groove rifling had barely been bored out though. If your gun has been bored - you might consider shooting it as a smoothbore (I used to love shooting smoothbore). On mine, a .575 round ball with a fairly heavy pillow ticking patch seated nicely and worked well. It wasn't as accurate as the rifled barrels, but it's kind of fun to shoot smoothbore and you can do pretty well at 50 yards . . well, most of the time! :eek:

Over the years, I assembled several of the cut down versions from parts and cut down stocks I'd accumulated. They were fun projects. My last one was with a chopped 45/70 stock and parts (all mismatched) and I used an old Numeric Arms 45 caliber muzzleloading barrel that they used to sell for converting 45/70s to muzzle-loaders. It shot great and i sure wish now that I had kept it.

You are going to have a lot of fun with that! :)
 
Lakota - an after thought that I just remembered.

I built one up one time with a 58 caliber barrel that had been chopped and bored out. I picked the barrel up from a guy who restored Civill War muskets - a 1861 model barrel with the clean out screw. The bore was great and like a mirror. I ended up taking it down to Friendship the next time I went and was able to get some wads from Circle Fly that fit the bore well. They were very helpful in getting the size figured out and great folks to deal with.

If it is smooth and you like shooting shotgun, you might get in touch with them and order several different size samples to see the size that fit. That would be a great small game shotgun for rabbits, squirrels and even a bird of two. I never figured that I was quick enough to take a game bird on the wing but I did it once with my flintlock Fusil-de-Chasse.
 
Hey bedbug.
The barrel had 6.1/2" cut off but it has not been bored out. I cleaned it up real good fired a cap through it when I first got it. What powder and how much should I use.I was thinking to start with 70 to 80 gr ffg to start.
 
Sounds like you got lucky on the barrel - even better if it's got the rifling.

On any original muzzleloader, I have always removed the barrel, tied it to a tire with a load and set it off with firecracker/cannon fuse to test it (standing back mind you). This same procedure is/was outlined in the back of Dixie Gun Work catalogs many years ago.

Remember that you are dealing with a firearm that is 150 years plus old. Check the breech plug threads to make sure they are still good and look for anything that could cause a problem. Chances are, you will be just fine.

As already stated - service load with an approx 500 gr. minie ball was 60 gr of FFG. Just remember that the gun is an antique and not meant to be loaded with heavy loads and there is no need to use anything over a service load. Chances are, with a chopped barrel length, you might even end up with unburned powder with a 60 grain load - all depends on the barrel, minie ball fit, etc. Out of my 58 cal. rifled muskets - both originals and reproductions - I have shot everything from round ball, new style minie, old style minie and the wadcutter. The wadcutter is a lighter weight bullet, requires less powder and can be very accurate at 25 to 50 yards or so.

Some may "poo poo" what I'm saying but it's better with originals such as this to be on the safe side and start with milder loads and go from there. Just use common sense and you'll be fine.

If you decide you want to cast for the rifled musket - you can sometimes find some good deals on Lyman mold blocks on eBay (mold #575213) or you can get cheaper Lee molds from Tital Reloading. Use soft lead so the skirt of the slug can expand and grip the rifling. You can use any good BP lube but all I've ever used is Crisco in the base and that works just fine to keep fouling soft.

Have fun and let us know how it goes - be safe! :)
 
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